Lincoln County Artsbeat

“By far the greatest number of my poems speak from the heart of a child. That’s probably why students relate to them so well; but adults do too, which makes me suspect that the child we were is still very much alive within each of us.” – South Bristol poet Arden G. Thompson, in the introduction to her 1989 book “Watching Ants.”

The shining light of Georgi Thompson: The bright spark of the child she once was is very much alive in the eyes, in the demeanor, and in the poetry of Arden “Georgi” Thompson, as I found out when I spent a thoroughly delightful morning with the vivacious 82-year-old recently.

“The arts are what makes us human,” said Thompson, who taught reading, writing, math, and science to gifted and talented students in Maine schools for 29 years. Sharing her poetry in the classroom was a way to reach students, she said. As she noted in “Watching Ants,” “Over the years I have found that by speaking in poetry I have been able to help people understand things in a fraction of the time that it would have taken them to ‘get it’ using words of logic.”

“Some of the brightest kids are kids that don’t do well on tests,” Thompson said, showing an understanding of what some might perceive as “problem” students. Perhaps it goes without saying that she is not a fan of standardized testing. Thompson added that as a science resource teacher, she had other teachers coming to her and commenting on how differently their students behaved in her science classroom. When one reads Thompson’s poem “I don’t like your world,” one sees this ability to relate to the mind of a child:

“I don’t like your world,

I said to them twice.

It’s dark, and narrow

without room for mice,

or wildflowers, or wind

in the trees, so how

can there be a place

there for me?

 

I don’t like your world –

it’s cramped and confusing

because the only things

you approve of are the ones

you’re using. Everything

else you destroy or ignore.

I don’t like your world;

I want out.

Where’s the door?

 

For I want a world

of wide open horizons

full of mysteries calling

me to kneel down beside them

to learn things

I cannot consciously ken,

but know are more real

than lines from a pen

and will help me become

all I can possibly be.

 

Goodbye.

I’m going outside.

I want to find me.

Thompson recited this poem (and others) for me from memory, and with the enthusiasm and captivating presence of a seasoned performing poet, though she has not read her works in public (not yet, anyway).

Thompson is in the process of putting the 3,678 poems she has stored in a safe into book form. This year, she has already published two new volumes of poetry, “A New Box of Crayons” and “Commitment.” “I’m working as hard as I can to get these poems out,” Thompson said. “Poetry is more effective than talking. It hits you on both sides of the brain.”

Buy Thompson’s books at ardenbooks.com. Read Thompson’s poem “Dear Teacher” in my March 7 Lincoln County Artsbeat column.

(Email me at clbreglia@lcnme.com or write me a letter in care of The Lincoln County News, P.O. Box 36, Damariscotta, ME 04543. I love to hear from readers.)